1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to voting equipment, and more particularly, to a portable survey system which is self-contained, is economical to construct and operate, and preserves voter anonymity in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many businesses, schools, and other institutions have found it necessary or desirable to conduct surveys or polls in the course of their activities. The results of these polls may be used for any number of different purposes, and generally, the questions presented are straightforward and are neither controversial nor embarrassing. However, in many situations, the subject of opinion polls and surveys is extremely sensitive and may be considered by many of the polled individuals to be personal and private. In such circumstances, the polling institutions recognize the sensitivities of their audience and obtain prior consent. Unfortunately, however, many people give their consent not because they do not mind answering the questions, but because they don't want to be considered any different from other persons answering the poll. The granted consent is thus artificial, the individual thereafter preserving his or her privacy by giving only partially complete or truthful answers to the various questions.
As a result of situations typified by the above example, many surveys develop data which cannot be relied upon since the data base is only partially truthful. Obviously, there is no way of guaranteeing that any answers will be truthful, but it is well known that a much greater degree of accuracy can be expected when responses are maintained either totally secret or taken under conditions where total anonymity is preserved. Since a person answering a survey or poll can never be certain that his or her answers will be kept confidential or secret, the only sure way of maximizing survey results is to preserve total anonymity right from the initial survey.
In addition to the foregoing problems, it is often desired to poll or survey small audiences in environments which normally are not specifically reserved for voting or polling purposes. For example, a normal classroom environment may be the desired site for a survey during one or more particular classes. A conference room, meeting area, convention site, private office, etc. similarly are places where surveys are not normally taken, but where survey information may be desired from time to time. In these situations, it is both impractical and unnecessary to pre-wire switching devices into the room for the purpose of tallying answers to questions as they are being asked. Thus, a need has developed for a completely portable survey unit which can be set up in any number of different areas and used to take surveys with minimal disruption or preliminary arrangements.
The prior art is generally cognizant of voting and survey apparatus designed for various special purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,823, for example, is illustrative of an indicator system designed for use by legislatures to indicate the votes cast by different members on different legislative matters. Each voting member has a responding unit which activates the series of lights adjacent the member's name on a display board. After the members cast their votes, the display is activated and the total votes will be immediately known. While it appears that such systems have generally served their intended purpose, they are not totally satisfactory in that complete anonymity is not preserved and that the system is intended to be pre-wired permanently into an existing structure, and thus, is not portable.
A similar system for displaying the vote of various legislative bodies is shown in earlier U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,041. A system used not for legislatures but for teaching aid purposes, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,014 which enables a teacher to poll his or her students during classroom instruction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,254 is typical of many prior art systems used for taking audience reaction surveys. U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,541 is similar and allows the audience to indicate "degree of confidence" by manipulating potentiometers which individually control the display. Another audience response measuring system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,453 which includes a recorder, a comparator, and an averaging network.
While the prior art, exemplified by the above-noted patents, is generally cognizant of many different types of voting and survey systems, none of these assemblies offers the convenience of self-contained portability for both the display panel and the responder units in a manner which allows quick and easy use, storage and transportation without unnecessary expense.